How to get Nexus S i9020A 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich Update

The Nexus S is Google's flagship product a short while ago before the Nexus Galaxy was released. When the latest update for Android phones was announced, the Nexus S was among the first to get it. It is unfortunate, but a fair share of Nexus S users were left in the dust as models such as the i9020A for Canadians was completely neglected. Months passed, and finally 4.0.4 is being sent over the air to i9020 users.

The OTA started a few days ago, but if you are anything like me, it has already been far too long, and I don't want to wait another minute. There are currently several threads on XDA-developers forum that require Clockwork Recovery Mod. It's a good way to go, nice and easy, but if you had CRM, chances are you could have installed the unofficial roms already. So this is the method for people who are using a clean Nexus S, hoping for an OFFICIAL update rather than one that someone has fiddled with. This is especially true because the CRM requires a factory reset, wiping clear your data, whereas this is a simple update.

First off we need to clear off your Google Services Framework.

You do this by entering your settings, going to applications, manage applications, then under the "All" tab, go to Google Services Framework and clear the data.

After clearing off the framework, go to your dialpad and enter "*#*#2432546#*#*". If you do this right, there is no need to actually dial, it should automatically accept it and clear (hence why the photo is missing the last digit).

You will get a notification at the top about checkin, then soon after, another notification telling you that there is a system update. From there, it's self explanatory, download and install.

It takes a while for it to boot up again, so don't fret if it takes a good 10 minutes in a booting screen, it is optimizing your apps in the background.

I have a Nexus S i90120A and did not work, I have version 2.6, maybe that's the problem. How do I upgrade to ICS 4.0?

I tried this on a number of phones already, worked fine except for 2 of them. Basically you can manually update (if you don't have root) by downloading the package from google (android.clients.google.com/packages/ota/google_crespoa/IEzMw3FU.zip). Put it on your Nexus S, restart in recovery and update. Let me know if it doesn't work.

I tried this method and I got the checkin notification, but I can't get the system update to come in. :/ If I download the package from Google, do I have to be rooted to use it? I was a little confused about the process, which is why I tried your method first.

Nope. When I wrote the article, just a short while ago, there were no links to Google to get the official package, so you had to get it over the air through your carrier, OR get an unofficial one and a rooted phone. The link I posted in my earlier comment is the official update, so you can download and update it via the recovery without any root access, fiddling with your phone or whatever. It will work as if you got it over the air.

Hi, same anon from two hours ago, but do you approximately how long it will be before the update comes over the air? And if I update it from the link, we'll it reset everything on my phone (delete contacts, apps, etc)?

OTA's are rolling out which is why we can download it, they seem to do it sort of in batches, so a bunch of people today, bunch more tomorrow, etc. At the moment it doesn't seem like a lot of people have actually gotten it OTA just by chance, but there are, so who knows, could be today, could be a week or two from now. It shouldn't be too much longer though (assuming you are Canadian). If you download the file, it will not erase everything on your phone, it will perform like a regular OTA update except for the downloading part.

OTA's are rolling out which is why we can download it, they seem to do it sort of in batches, so a bunch of people today, bunch more tomorrow, etc. At the moment it doesn't seem like a lot of people have actually gotten it OTA just by chance, but there are, so who knows, could be today, could be a week or two from now. It shouldn't be too much longer though (assuming you are Canadian). If you download the file, it will not erase everything on your phone, it will perform like a regular OTA update except for the downloading part.

Hi!

You sound knowledgeable so I'm going to see if you could help. A: I've tried the method of clearing data from the Google Services Framework and punching in the number and do get the checkin successful message but that's it. B: I've downloaded the ROM from Google manually but get eignature verification failed error when trying to update that.

You sound knowledgeable so I'm going to see if you could help. A: I've tried the method of clearing data from the Google Services Framework and punching in the number and do get the checkin successful message but that's it. B: I've downloaded the ROM from Google manually but get eignature verification failed error when trying to update that.

Even did a factory reset to be sure I was completely stock.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Nexus S
2.3.6
i9020a
grk39f

scratch that - did the clear framework thing several times quickly and it worked

So basically you would just download the file and name it update.zip and place in in the root of your phone (ie, not in any folders, but just directly in your phone). Then you have to turn off your phone, and turn it back on by holding Power and the Volume Up buttons to boot into recovery mode. From there you navigate with the volume up and down button and select by using the power button. Go to recovery, then apply update and select the update.zip file. Then just be patient as it works its magic.

Guys, this does work and flawlessy, with a.couple of.minor tweaks.
Locate Google Services Framework as noted but when you receive
the GPS query, DO NOT respond, simply power off your device.
There is no need to perform the "check in" as it is unrelated.
When you power back up, you should receive a system update
notification, then follow the prompts.

Make sure you have more than 50% battery and connected to
wifi, you'll have ICS 4.0.4 on your device in less than 15 minutes.

hi im not sure how long it would be for me to get the ics ota update, since im not on At&t althought im using an at&t phone. But using a small company named straight talk, that does use at&t service and towers.